


Match of the Day

by mistresscurvy



Series: The New Posh and Becks [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Coda, Football Player Louis, Football | Soccer, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 07:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4909981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistresscurvy/pseuds/mistresscurvy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coda to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1214983">The New Posh and Becks</a> - a charity match ten years later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Match of the Day

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this right after Louis's charity match last spring and finally got around to finishing it. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, etc. 
> 
> Thank you to harriet_vane for the cheerleading and lokte for the amazing Britpick!!

Louis would laugh at him if he knew, but Liam was nervous. 

It didn't matter that the match was for charity, or that everyone there would just be having fun whilst supporting a good cause. He still got a pit at the bottom of his stomach when he thought about it. Only thing to do was try and keep it from Louis, or he'd never hear the end of it. 

"What have you done to Poppy's hair?" Louis asked from over his shoulder. 

Liam blinked and looked down at their daughter's hair in his hands. "Oh dear," he said, comparing the messy left plait he'd been mauling with the pigtail it was intended to match on the right side of her head. 

"Can you fix it, please?" she asked politely, turning to look up at him with her big brown eyes. 

"Course I can, sweetheart, I just got distracted," Liam said, combing his fingers through her hair and starting again. It'd been ages since he'd made such a hash of her hair like that. He glanced up at Louis before focusing all his attention on starting the plait fresh. "You look quite smart."

"Same thing as always," Louis said, and it was true, this uniform of a well-fitting suit and Arsenal red tie as familiar as his actual football kit by now. But he still wore it well, managing to look good even in compulsory formal wear, his hair swept across his forehead with a bit of a wave to it. He'd pull it back for the match itself, either in a high ponytail or with a headband or both, but Liam liked this look best.

He dragged his focus back to Poppy's hair, carefully weaving the strands over each other until he could secure the ends. "There you go," he said, smoothing down each side of her head. "They're not too tight?"

She shook her head. "Thank you, Daddy," she said, leaning back against his chest. 

He kissed the top of her head. "You're welcome." He looked up at Louis. "Jack ready to go?"

Louis nodded just as Jack came running into the room and grabbed hold of Louis's leg. "Slow down there, love, you almost knocked me over," Louis said.

"I'm ready to play," Jack argued. He had a point, already wearing his tiny red and white jersey with Tomlinson written across the back of it, matching his sister. 

"Well, let Dad go and we can head outside for a bit, okay?" Liam tugged Jack off of Louis's leg and got both of the children settled on his lap. "Car here yet?"

Louis shook his head. "But it will be any second."

Liam nodded. "Poppy, take Jack out to the back garden, I'll be there in a minute." He stood up after they had left, his knees a little creaky from the effort. 

"Having some trouble there, old man?" Louis asked. 

Liam tapped him on the stomach with the back of his hand. "What does that make you, then?"

"I'm still doing alright," Louis said, grinning a bit wryly. "Even if I can't run like I did when I was twenty." 

The sound of the kids floated up through the window, a shout followed by an answering squeal. "They're going to get their jerseys all dirty," Liam said. 

"You can change them out for one of the other dozen kits they have, then. It's good for them to get out some of their nervous energy," Louis said. Liam nodded absently, listening to Poppy instructing Jack on the game they were playing. Sometimes he worried Jack was getting railroaded by his sister, but he insisted that he wanted to play what she did. The desire to be a big kid like her overruled any thought of rebellion, at least so far. 

"Maybe you should run off some of those nerves, too," Louis said, reaching out and squeezing Liam's hand, drawing Liam's focus back. "You made a right mess of Poppy's hair."

"I fixed it," Liam protested, his heart not in it. 

"Mm-hmm," Louis said, eyeing him. 

Liam sighed. "It's easier when it's a real match, because then you're so focused I don't have the room to be anxious about it. At least not until you're actually playing."

"That doesn't make any sense at all," Louis said.

"Yes, it does!" Liam insisted.

A car horn sounded outside. "That's me. I'll see you before kick-off," Louis said, leaning in for a brief kiss. "And stop worrying."

"I'll try," Liam promised, kissing him again before heading to the back garden to check on the kids. 

*

The Emirates felt like a second home now, even during a charity match featuring players he only knew by reputation and not from dinners out with Louis and his teammates. Louis was still only one of a handful of openly gay footballers, ten years after coming out, but Liam had quickly been adopted by most of the other WAGs. 

Their place in the Arsenal family had become even easier when Poppy had been born eight years ago, and Jack three years after that. Footballers were a broody bunch, and having a couple of adorable kids around tended to smooth out any potential awkwardness quickly. 

That was especially true when at a match like this, when all of the players' families were there. It was a social occasion, a day when they all pretended that football was a game they played just for the love of it and wasn't also a billion pound industry. But even when they were surrounded by dozens of people, Jack still managed to pick out his favourite member of the Arsenal staff with ease. 

"Daddy, there's Niall!" Jack tugged Liam's hand and dragged him over to Niall, who was grinning down at Jack. 

"Hiya, squirt! Can I get a high five?" Niall asked, holding his hand at chest height. Jack crouched down and then leapt up, just barely making contact with Niall's hand. "Nice pigtails, Poppy."

"Daddy did them," Poppy said quickly, eager to move on to more important topics. "Can we do some drills before the match?"

"Niall's probably busy," Liam said, his heart breaking a bit at how disappointed she looked. 

"Tell you what though, during half-time I'll come out onto the pitch with you and we can kick it around a bit, how about that," Niall said. A small smile crept onto Poppy's face as she nodded. "And maybe we can get this lazy dog to join us," Niall added, winking at Louis as he walked up to them.

"Abusing me in front of my children again, I see," Louis said.

"Can't let them get the wrong idea about you from your millions of fans."

"It's nice that we have the sort of friends who will prevent them from ever thinking well of us," Liam said.

"That's because we're the best, Liam," Harry said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Uncle Harry!" Jack yelled. He flung himself at Harry, almost knocking him over. 

"Careful you don't break him," Liam said, but Harry had already lifted him up for a hug.

"Harry, where on earth did you find those shorts, the eighties?" Louis asked. "They're practically indecent."

"Just giving the people what they want," Harry said. It was hard to argue that his fans would be upset by the miles of thigh Harry was showing off in shorts that barely covered his whole arse. He shifted and cocked his hip. "Plus, it's for charity," he added solemnly to Jack, who responded by cuddling closer. 

"Oh, well, if it's for charity, then," Liam said. 

"Did you have someone take up those shorts?" Louis demanded, still stuck on them.

"I never reveal my secrets," Harry answered, which meant he did. 

"Alright, Liam, it's time for us to get to the sidelines," Niall said. 

Liam nodded. "I'll see you out there after you go out with Dad, okay?" he said to Poppy. He gave Jack a kiss on the cheek and then went over to Louis. 

"Stop fretting," Louis said. 

"Who said anything about fretting," Liam said, kissing Louis before he could mock him for the obvious lie. "I'll see you at half-time."

He could hear Harry explaining to Jack that he planned on scoring a hat-trick that afternoon as he walked away, following the corridors until he suddenly emerged pitch-side. The stands were already mostly full, a mix of hardcore football supporters and families out for a day of seeing celebrities attempt to kick the ball around all in the name of charity. It felt familiar, though, the rhythm and sound of the crowd soothing his nerves finally. 

The crowd drowned out his anxiety further when they roared as the players stepped out of the tunnel. Louis led his charity side out, the captain's band tight around his upper arm. Poppy and Jack were on either side of him, holding onto his hands, and Liam could see him reminding Jack to take his thumb out of his mouth. When he did, Louis leaned over and kissed the top of his head and then whispered something to him and Poppy. 

A moment later both of them waved their free hands to the crowd, Poppy occasionally stopping to grab hold of her pigtail before letting it go again to start waving once more. Liam stared at them, his heart full to bursting at seeing his family all together out there, smiling back at the stands full of people who loved them. But not as much as he did. 

They stood with all the other players in the centre of the pitch, retired and current footballers alternating with musicians and actors, all of them there to raise money for cancer research. Louis had asked Liam once if he wanted to play in one of these matches years ago, before they were even married. But after thinking about it, Liam had decided that he'd rather let Louis keep the spotlight on days like this, content to be there for him on the sideline. 

That was even more true now that it was a family day, Louis pointing out Liam to Poppy and Jack and sending them back to him so they could watch the match together from the Arsenal bench. 

The first half was a fast-paced high scoring romp of a charity match, the focus more on slightly out of control attacking play than on solid defending. The kids shrieked and cheered when Louis scored after eight minutes, but the loudest screams of the half occurred when Harry was subbed on, the crowd just as enthusiastic about his sartorial choices as he had predicted. The sound gave Liam a small pang of longing for a moment; his last tour had ended over two years ago at this point, and he missed the feeling of being at the centre of it all and doing what he loved almost more than anything.

But then Poppy tugged on his hand, getting his attention again, and he remembered why he had stopped touring for now. "Daddy, look at Dad go!" she yelled, and pointed at Louis streaking up the left hand side before making the perfect cross in for Harry to tap it into the back of the net, the entire stadium showing its approval at his effort. He and Poppy and Jack yelled and chanted in support, and after celebrating the goal with Harry, Louis looked over at them and blew them a kiss. 

He had missed too much of this while away on a tour for months on end, Poppy too old to be taken out of school and Jack refusing to be separated from his big sister for more than a few days at a time. So after that last tour Liam had taken a break from the road, writing for other musicians and being the one at home. There would be time for touring again later.

Right now all of his attention was focused on Poppy and Jack. Poppy was already vibrating from excitement in anticipation of getting to be out there on the pitch herself during half-time, and Jack was excited because Poppy was excited. As a result, Liam spent the rest of the first half waiting for it to be over so that their fun could begin. 

When the referee finally blew his whistle, Poppy shrieked and ran out onto the pitch before the players had even made their way off. Liam grabbed hold of Jack's hand and followed her, Niall right behind. 

He had thought Louis would go into the locker room with the rest of the players, but he and Harry jogged over to them instead. Some sort of audience contest was being done on the other side of the pitch, but it was just the six of them down near this goal. 

"Okay, Poppy, before you start taking some shots, we need to warm up together," Niall instructed, and they all got into a circle, the crowd behind the goal screaming when Harry started to do some stretches. The rest of them started to play keepaway, with Niall in the middle. It wasn't long before Jack managed to send it outside the circle entirely with an errant kick. His lower lip began to wobble. 

"You've got quite the powerful shot, Jack," Harry said to him. "Look how far it went!"

"That sort of strength will come in handy soon," Niall added, back with the ball and kicking it over to Louis to start again. 

"The master of the long ball!" Louis said, sneaking the ball just past Niall to Poppy.

"We all have our special skills," Poppy said, confidently trapping the football with her foot and curling it back to Louis.

"That's right, like how Daddy's the best keeper in the family," Louis said, passing it over to Jack. 

"I'm also the only keeper in the family," Liam said.

"Who knows, maybe Jack will challenge you for it one day, right Jack?" Louis said. 

Liam was pretty sure that Jack's eventual position was going to be in the stands watching his sister play, based on how quickly he lost interest in actually kicking the ball himself. But that was for Jack to figure out and not for anyone else to decide for him. "Alright, Poppy, ready to see if you can score against your old man?" Liam asked. 

"I was born ready," she replied, and he snorted and ran back to the goal. "No letting me score, either!" she called out after him. 

"Okay, I promise," he shouted back, mostly meaning it. Last summer Poppy had started to realise that Daddy didn't seem to move quite as fast when she took a shot on goal as he did when Dad tried to score. The result was a multi-month-long campaign of demanding that he not treat her like a little kid. Liam was not particularly good at that, but he was going to give it his best shot. 

He took the gloves Niall brought over for him and put them on. "Good luck keeping a clean sheet," Niall said, slapping him on the back. 

"I'm going to need it!" Liam said. "Okay, Poppy, let's see what you've got!" he called out, bouncing on his feet and waving his arms around. She looked tiny stood there alone at the penalty spot in the middle of a massive stadium, but she didn't seem to notice the crowd at all, looking as determined as she did in their back garden when they played together. Niall blew a whistle and she ran up and took the shot, the ball curling low and hard away from Liam's outstretched fingers, just sliding past him into the back of the net. 

Liam could hear Poppy's victorious shout even before he sat back up, Jack running over to him yelling, "She did it! She did it!" and then flying into his arms. Louis had picked Poppy up and was showing her off to the crowd, his eyes beaming with pride as he looked back at Liam and Jack. 

Liam had no idea what on earth he had been so anxious about before.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, I wrote the scene of Liam braiding Poppy's hair months before he showed off his plaiting skills on instagram. RPF is weird, man. 
> 
> In case anyone is wondering just how short football shorts were in the 1980's, [check this out](http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-tease-fans-with-peek-at-new-1980s-inspired-kit-ahead-of-friday-launch-10243588.html).
> 
> And if you're a fan of real life footballers and their adorable children, [this video of Fernando Torres](https://youtu.be/yMF22hcYqa8?t=2m13s) with his two little ones at the celebration Atletico threw for him when he returned to the club is a lot.


End file.
